A man from the English county of Cumbria went on a shooting rampage this week along the Western coast of the UK. He killed 12 and shot a total of 25, before taking his own life. The county and country are in a state of shock as they hear of the unfolding events.
He was clearly a disturbed man who needed help for his demons. Alas, he realised this and sought help only to be turned away by his local mental health authority. This is after being disarmed by a friend. The Telegraph reports the disturbing events that led up to the rampage. bit.ly/9a3BhK
“It has been reported that Bird had initially armed himself with two guns on Tuesday night, but was disarmed by a friend. Bird is then believed to have sought medical help at a local hospital for his fragile mental state, only to be turned away.”
Predictably in these sort of situations rather than wait until all the findings are in, politicians are calling for even stricter to be introduced. bit.ly/bZCVR7
“After the Home Office revealed that the killer had held a shotgun certificate for 15 years, as well as a rifle licence gained in 2007, former Home Secretary Alan Johnson said a tightening of checks needed to be considered. Mr Johnson said their might be a case for incorporating mental health checks into the system following claims that it is too easy for rural residents to gain access to firearms.”
This is despite the UK having some of the most draconian gun laws anywhere, many introduced in response to the mid-90s Dumblane massacre. Another case where a seriously mentally ill man, who falsified his gun licence, went on a rampage. The guy laws have not done much in preventing gun attacks, in fact they have gone up. bit.ly/9IYl6g
“…a report published in 2001 revealed that within two years of the handgun legislation, crime involving them had risen by 40% and that the possession of illegally-held handguns had continued to rise. Another handgun amnesty was held in 2003, after the murder, involving handguns, of two teenage girls from Birmingham. Over 40,000 illegally-held weapons were handed in to police. Statistics on the current (2006) amount of illegally-held handguns are not known.”
It was not the only multiple killing to occur in the UK in the last few days. bit.ly/cemyyl
A WOMAN said today that she saw a mother and her young son brutally murdered in a frenzied knife attack at their country cottage. Rachael Slack and her 23-month-old son Auden were stabbed to death by her 44-year-old ex-partner before he turned the knife on himself.
Belgium, which also has its own gun laws recently saw two murdered in a Courthouse. bit.ly/anJYTG
“… a man in Brussels shoots two people dead — a judge and a clerk of the court (both female), no less — in a Brussels building — the Belgian capital's courthouse, no less.”
Theresa May, the Home Secretary has resisted the temptation to act hastily and for that she has been praised by commentator and MEP Dan Hannan on his blog. bit.ly/b6D5Sd
“Theresa May has behaved bravely and correctly by resisting the temptation to alter our firearms laws following the Cumbria tragedy. The aftermath of these diabolical events is the one time when we shouldn’t rush to make policy. We wouldn’t be human if, at such moments, we didn’t allow our emotions to rule us.”
It remains to be seen if the new government will take this opportunity to review mental health policy in the light of yet another mentally ill man going on a killing rampage. Individuals bent on killing as many people exist everywhere and its never easy for a government to find policy to prevent such events from happening. Events in the UK and Belgium prove that simple solutions may not necessarily prevent it from happening again.
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